AC Compressor

[GTSBoy]

2 minutes ago, kevboost7 said:

Did you re-gas yourself?

No. That is totally illegal. Punters are not permitted to buy most refrigerants in Australia. Certainly not old not-very-nice ones like R134a. (I converted my car to R134a from R12 many years ago. I think the Neo compressor I have now is native R134a anyway, so I would have had to convert the gas when I did the engine swap anyway, if it was not already done, which it was).

The evaporator is under the dash, and being a heat exchanger is made of thin section aluminium that is prone to eventually giving up the structural fight and cracking. There are also joints between it and the plumbing and the TX valve and so on. Every other connection and seal in the system is a potential leak point. There's rotary seals in the compressor, o-rings and similar seals at the hose connections to the compressor, the receiver dryer and condensor.

[soviet_merlin]

On 22/10/2024 at 10:55 AM, GTSBoy said:

AAAaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh!

This. So much. I tried to run mine today and it does nothing. Everything sounds normal and I can feel it sapping power so I presume the compressor is running. But it's just blowing air at ambient temperature.

Regas was a few posts earlier, ~4 weeks ago. I have had it on once since then.

Looking forward to see what you find out about yours.

Feeling a bit like Johnny where having a modern car would be nice for a change.

[kevboost7]

15 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

No. That is totally illegal. Punters are not permitted to buy most refrigerants in Australia. Certainly not old not-very-nice ones like R134a. (I converted my car to R134a from R12 many years ago. I think the Neo compressor I have now is native R134a anyway, so I would have had to convert the gas when I did the engine swap anyway, if it was not already done, which it was).

The evaporator is under the dash, and being a heat exchanger is made of thin section aluminium that is prone to eventually giving up the structural fight and cracking. There are also joints between it and the plumbing and the TX valve and so on. Every other connection and seal in the system is a potential leak point. There's rotary seals in the compressor, o-rings and similar seals at the hose connections to the compressor, the receiver dryer and condensor.

Oh you already converted to R134a? Interesting. Is there a kit to do that? And i didn't know the evap was under the dash. Prayers up for you bro haha hopefully its something easy to fix. AC systems have always been the hardest thing for me to wrap my head around. 

[kevboost7]

13 hours ago, soviet_merlin said:

This. So much. I tried to run mine today and it does nothing. Everything sounds normal and I can feel it sapping power so I presume the compressor is running. But it's just blowing air at ambient temperature.

Regas was a few posts earlier, ~4 weeks ago. I have had it on once since then.

Looking forward to see what you find out about yours.

Feeling a bit like Johnny where having a modern car would be nice for a change.

Are you guys daily driving your skylines?? 

Its already pretty cold here in the U.S. already where you dont need the AC now. Its nice fall weather. 

[GTSBoy]

4 hours ago, kevboost7 said:

Is there a kit to do that?

I don't imagine so. It's less about "parts" than it is about process. You just have to screw on adapter ports, because R143a systems have different port valves to R12. Then you need to pump down the system, inert it and extract the old oil and replace with new R134a compatible oil and the refrigerant itself. All done by an AC mechanic (who are the only people licensed to handle refrigerants in Oz).

4 hours ago, kevboost7 said:

Are you guys daily driving your skylines?? 

Yes. Absolutely. 60km/day to/from work and whenever else needed. I don't care what anyone else thinks. They're just dirty old Datsuns that were built to be used**. Not f**ken' hero cars to be kept in a shed.

**Says he who has one of the nicest, cleanest ones around.